The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly, to the type generally known as a surface mount stacking connector.
As electronic equipment of all types have incorporated digital technology and associated digital control techniques, the number of input and output signals that are desired and that require processing to implement a given control function, has grown considerably. Although the processing power of CPU'S and similar logic devices has increased while being accommodated in smaller and smaller packaging, the limits to the overall size reduction available for electronic equipment is often dictated by the connectors, by which the equipment is electronically connected to input and output signal leads. As long as a single wire is required for each input or output signal, the reduction in the physical size of the connectors is, at least in theory, limited by the volume, or cross-sectional area, of the wires to be connected to the equipment.
Although the electronics industry generally has attempted to reduce the size and complexity of connectors, such as stacking type connectors, a number of considerations make further miniaturization difficult. These considerations include assuring that each of the multiplicity of individual connections within the overall connecting members will, firstly, achieve the required mating contact, and that such contact will be uninterrupted and continuous for the required life of the equipment. Furthermore, the gross force required to simultaneously make up all the individual connections in the connector, must be reasonable and substantially evenly distributed among all the individual connections. Moreover, these considerations must be viewed in terms of the practicability of manufacturing such a connector.